I never thought there would come a day when I applauded someone owning up to a $12 million debt. But here we are.
In his first interview as St Kilda president, business mogul Andrew Bassat opened up about the club’s financial position and the mistakes that have contributed to its debt – specifically the move to Seaford in 2011.
He told The Age, “It was a mistake at the time and it was even worse mistake in hindsight. We shouldn’t have gone to Seaford. The people who made that decision have got a bit to answer for and I think that’s contributed to where we are today, there’s no doubt.”
It’s good to see someone being very open and honest in his comments about the club’s off field position.
However, Bassat remained upbeat about the club’s form, despite finishing a lowly 16th in 2018.
For a side that threatens to rise one season, they only seem to fall backwards the next, taking their fault-less fans for a wicked ride.
2018 started off well for the Saints. The club broke its record membership tally (46,301) last season, but when the first official 2019 club membership tally was released in December 2018, the Saints had the lowest number of members of any Victorian club that provided the figure and slumped to 15th overall.
But can you blame supporters for falling off? No, not really. They’re giving this side so much love, loyalty and support to have mediocrity given in return.
Four wins and a draw in 2018 was hardly the response anyone was expecting after an incredibly promising 2017 season.
I watched St Kilda play live twice that year and while the game plan was for the most part boring, it was effective.
It was a super defensive style of play and when the game was played on the Saints’ terms, they successfully dismantled the opposition to appear almost non-existent.
The most memorable was a 67-point thrashing of eventual premiers Richmond in front of a full house at Etihad Stadium.
That win, along with 10 others, put St Kilda in a great position to attack the top eight in 2018. Instead they slid to 16th with a whole lot of problems both on and off the field.
As a reward for 2017 efforts, the Saints were given a chance on the Good Friday stage in 2018. And thanks to a 52-point defeat to North Melbourne, they lost the fixture just as quickly.
(AAP Image/Joe Castro)
Instead, St Kilda will play Port Adelaide in China… I am sure supporters are delighted by that honour.
At first it didn’t make much sense why a club that isn’t 100 per cent controlled by the AFL would voluntarily take part in Port Adelaide’s lacklustre fixture but since learning about the club’s frighteningly large debt, the answer is now clear as daylight.
In terms of on-field action, the Saints did have a successful start to their JLT pre-season campaign with a solid win over North Melbourne but unfortunately for them, the pre-season is hardly the home-and-away form indicator that it was back in ’90s.
Nowadays it seems the lid is off for the winners, while the fixture is “just a practice game” for the losers. The real test is yet to come.
The signs of improvement aren’t there the same way they are at Brisbane or Carlton. As we saw in 2016 and 2017, when the game plan worked, it really worked. The club finished 9th and 11th respectively – ahead of Richmond, Melbourne, Collingwood and Hawthorn in each or both of those years.
Within 24 months Richmond win a premiership, Collingwood are grand finalists, Hawthorn bounces back into the top four and the Dees win two finals in their best season for over a decade. But for St Kilda it’s a bottom-four finish and another step backwards.
Despite the off-field issues of crippling debt, China, low membership numbers to start the season and on-field lack of performance, the biggest issue of them all is still receiving full support of the club and in some ways, the supporters.
Under Alan Richardson this club isn’t making much progress and instead of the new boss demanding an improvement on the field, he’s given full support to the coach and everything he’s doing.
Bassat told The Age that the club is, “backing (Richardson) unambiguously to achieve” success.
That’s a fair enough statement to make about a coach who has a proven record of some success during his tenure but the reality is Richardson has had none. And he never appears too bothered by it.
There’s no emotion and no accountability, instead churning out the same stock standard vanilla comments during his press conferences and weekly media appearances.
Come on, Richo. Get angry, get frustrated, cry of sadness or joy. Give the people something to show that this means something to you. Because nothing suggests to me that you’re passionate about this club and its success (or lack of it).
Instead, he’s allowed the supporters to be okay with mediocrity and chalked up “honourable losses” as a win.
I have St Kilda-supporting friends who were proud of the team’s efforts against Richmond (28-point loss at MCG) and West Coast (13-point loss at Optus) in 2018.
Credit where it’s due, they put on a sensational performance against the eventual premiers at home in what was one of their best games of the season – but too often that same effort isn’t there.
These “I am proud of the effort” losses don’t change the fact that the club isn’t walking away with the four points. There is now an attitude of accepting average results and being okay with coming close without actually winning.
Bassat said the club has spent plenty of time developing the club’s culture. Was settling for mediocrity part of that?
This is a club crying for someone to inspire them, to take ownership and leadership and at the moment, coach Richo isn’t the answer.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
For a decade, leadership came in the form of Nick Riewoldt but when he retired at the end of 2017, he left too big of a hole for Richo to cover alone.
The heartbreaking reality is that no one has really stood up in his place.
I appreciate the honesty and transparency from Bassat about the club’s off-field position. It’s a step in the right direction but the Saints still have a long way to go.
The question is can the new St Kilda president steer his new venture in a successful direction, or will it continue on the road to nowhere?
BlueJiggS
Roar Rookie
As a ( fairly long ) suffering Sainter, I can agree with you that ( based on our history ) simply dismissing the coach is no solution...... just ask Richmond supporters????. However, it has to be said, that despite the ( ahem) “ eccentric “ (?) organisation at my club, the Coach HAS to bear a fair whack of responsibility for the poor onfield results. In my humble opinion, Alan Richardson should be given the benefit of making this, his final contracted season, the season where he makes a statement to the doubters (like me) that he can redeem both his reputation and the fortunes of my beloved club. Another finish below 14th and I think another person should be given the gig.
BlueJiggS
Roar Rookie
Fair comment for the most part. I guess it’s a matter of just maintaining my loyalty to a club that I’ve been blessed/cursed (?) to support since arriving in Melbourne in 1990. I came close to relinquishing my membership during 2018, the season from hell...... not just because of the results and ladder position ..... THAT I can live with ... don’t like it, but can cop it. No, what brought me to a point where I felt so low, was the ( apparent ) lack of feeling or passion from the coach and players. I take heart from the fact that we are in the final season of Alan Richardson’s tenure..... with a ready made replacement here in Brett Ratten.
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
St Kilda's off field issues aside, the elephant in the room is their atrocious foot skills. You can't routinely miss goals from 5m out, hand the momentum back to the opposition and expect to maintain both form and respect. Any ball game - especially at the highest level - has to have players with elite technical skill, that is evident through soccer and its traineeships. St Kilda has traditionally been poor technically, but last year was embarrassing. Solving that problem will cure many issues, not least membership.
Rob
Guest
Melbourne actually has the highest supporter to member conversion in the AFL (did a few years ago at least)... and remember MCC members who barrack for Melbourne dont need a club membership too which keeps the figure lower.
waterman64
Guest
Oh for heavens' sake. What a lot of emotional claptrap. What is it exactly that the coach does not do well? Discussing the win-loss results is not a reason. You need to dig deeper please, and report on what really goes on inside a club. Yes?
IAP
Guest
Wonder no more, I do read the articles, but the comments are usually more fun to read.
Raimond
Roar Guru
I wonder whether you read any article before commenting.
Raimond
Roar Guru
Move to Tasmania.
Marnie Cohen
Expert
Hi James, The membership numbers came from the last official release by the AFL - which has been stated in the article. My apologies for not using the stats you have provided and I appreciate that. The supporters are praised in the article for their loyalty - it is fantastic to see so many re-signing.
Fraser Gehrig's Mullet
Roar Rookie
St Kilda also beat Melbourne last year in membership figures ~46 000 vs 44 000. Given Melbourne's form I don't know if that says more about Melbourne fans though...
Rambo
Guest
Timbo that's lame.
IndieRock
Roar Rookie
Actually the year after Boomer and co retired you finished 15th - it didn’t make sense to let them go (especially boomer). You would have been wooden spoon in 2017 if you didn’t beat the Lions on the last day of the regular season, so you didn’t actually have leaders that stepped up and took over straight away. It took a year for that to transition and for others to step up. Many (not me by the way) had North locked for the spoon that year. There are a few parallels here between Saints and North. There is more expectation on North based on last years performance and the acquisition of Hall and Polec, this is coupled with a much tougher fixture so it will be interesting to see if you can get near finals. I hope you do, North would be the team I want to do well after Saints.
Cat
Roar Guru
Considering how much the Saints have struggled with the very basics of the game, such as their absolutely horrific goal kicking fingers most definitely should be pointed at the coaching staff. I don't know what they are training the boys for in Morrabbin but the basics are the foundation upon which everything else sets.
James
Guest
The membership tally is on the Saints website by the way - on the home page half way down on the right hand side. https://www.saints.com.au/ To compare, we are ahead of North (33,212), who have shown a lot more promise recently and have done a lot of good business in the off season with Polec and Hall. Thank you :)
James
Guest
My last comment didn't make it through moderation so I will apologise if it hit a nerve and please let me try again. A large part of this article is criticising St Kilda's membership 'drop off' from an article from December 2018 (3 months ago). The actual figures are far from the truth - Saints numbers are down by less than 300 members on last year at this time. Last year Saints broke their record for membership numbers. So off the back of last season this is a fantastic effort by the club and the membership team - who should be praised not criticised. Also shows how loyal (or stupid) us Saints supporters are. Apologies if the original post hit a nerve but it seems the writer has not considered any recent statistical data sources. Current membership numbers (from Saturday the 2nd of March): Current Membership Tally (02/03/2019): 35,151 This Time Last Year (01/03/2018): 35,409 Difference: -258 All-Time Tally; 1. 46,998 (2018) 2. 42,094 (2017) 3. 39,276 (2011) 4. 39,021 (2010) 5. 38,009 (2016) Projected Final Total: 46,740 In spite of a horrible year where expectations were not met and there is a huge question mark over the coach, Lethlean's review plus Bassat as the new chairman are giving Saints fans enough optimism to project their second highest membership total EVER. Thanks, James.
RT
Roar Rookie
The thing about Harvey was he was close to North's best player at the time. I am not convinced they should have got rid of him. But I admit North have gone ok without him and have other leaders. Saints on the other hand might not of got rid of someone like him.
Mike
Roar Rookie
Which comes first good coach or good players?
Larry1950
Guest
Wayne, he must have had a decent stockpile of wood by the end of 2018. Seriously, sacking coaches is the easy way out when it's generally the players who are to blame, but you need to sack more of them to make a difference.
Simon14
Guest
Hello - what is The Issue That St Kilda Can't Keep Sweeping Under The Carpet? I read the article and it's just a whole bunch of (already well documented) issues on the failings of the club. Interested to know which of the above is the issue the title is alluding to and that the club needs to deal with?
Wayne Putt
Guest
I know Alan Richardson from his connection at East Burwood FC, and I can tell you Alan takes defeat extremely hard in fact he'll go home after a loss and chop wood to take out his frustration. Then it's all about preparing for the next game. He is well aware of what Saints fans are feeling, there is nothing more he would cherish than leading the Saints to their 2nd flag. Remember, Damien Hardwick and Buck's were on skid row according to the media recently. I like many Saints fans are crying out for a flag. I'm hopeful that I will see a flag before I die, a d I have the belief that Richo is the man, everyone needs to show some faith and get behind Richo and the club. This season I believe will be a successful one and next year we'll be right up there, in saying that I say, come on boys let's do this together and for Richo before he loses all his hair. Go Saints and Go Rams .